Gun club membership among the LGBT community has skyrocketed since the massacre at the Orlando gay nightclub that killed 49 people earlier this month,
USA Today reports.
Pink Pistols, a gun club for the LGBT community, has reported that additional chapters nationwide have opened up and that its Facebook membership has increased from some 1,500 before the shooting to almost 7,000.
The group's website emphasizes that its goals are to help people "select a firearm, acquire a permit and receive proper training in its safe and legal use for self-defense."
One of the organization's chapters in Atlanta has seen its membership double to some 230, especially during the city's preparations for the gay community's special pride events over the weekend.
Atlanta Pink Pistols member Chris Willis told
CBS46 that since the Orlando shooting, not only has the membership surged, but many others in the LGBT community have shown interest in knowing how to defend themselves and in what steps they should take to do so.
Not everyone, however, thinks the additional interest in gun ownership is such a great idea.
Timothy McCarthy, director of Harvard University's Sexuality, Gender and Human Right Program, told USA Today that the rush to buy more guns among the LGBT community, while understandable, is "misplaced and problematic."
"I don't believe more guns is going to lead to less violence," he said. "The more guns we have in circulation, the more guns we have in use, that sets us up for more violence."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.